She released her tight breath and willed strength to her fearful heart, assuring herself that it was simply Samantha, yet unable to convince herself.
The door swung open and Liliah lifted the poker behind her to increase the power of her swing, then she froze.
Her jaw dropped, and she sincerely thought that she was hallucinating.
It was impossible.
It was improbable.
It was a sure sign she had lost her mind.
She had heard that love made people crazy, but she had never expected it to be such a literal application. Good Lord.
Her hallucination offered a cautious smile as his familiar blue eyes shifted from her to the weapon in her hand, then back. “Liliah, love. Would you mind putting that down?” He closed the door silently, tucking something into his coat pocket.
Liliah’s brows pinched in confusion.
“The fire poker, unless . . . unless you wish me to leave?” he asked, his tone immediately sobering as if never having thought of that option before.
This shook her from her confusion, and she set the poker beside the fire. Was it truly Lucas, then? How the devil had he gotten past the footmen?
“Thank you.” He tugged on his shirt cuffs, something that she’d seen him do several times when he was slightly uncomfortable. The sight made a smile tip her lips, and she decided that she didn’t care of if she was hallucinating—it was still Luc.
And he was here with her.
But that begged the question—rather, many questions. But of first importance—“Why?” she asked, so much longing, pain, and hurt crushed into her chest at once. The bitterness of missing him, the sweetness of seeing him again, turned over and over in her heart a hundred different ways.
“It’s quite simple, actually.” He took a few tentative steps into the room, his warm gaze lingering over every part of her.
“I’m waiting,” Liliah replied, forcing a brave calm.
At her words, he chuckled softly, shaking his head. “Who would have thought that of the two of us, you would be more stubborn? Not I.”
Liliah’s brow pinched again as she wondered at his words.
“No, rather, of the two of us, you were willing to say good-bye, end everything—no strings attached.” He circled around her and reaching up, placed a warm hand at her neck, moving it downward to her hand before releasing her and moving to caress her shoulders as he passed behind her.
Liliah closed her eyes at the extreme pleasure of his touch, simple as it was. “Oh?” she said unremarkably.
“Yes. It was rather humbling to realize that it wasn’t that you needed me, rather . . . that I needed you. I, who had convinced myself that I needed nothing, or no one, was utterly held prisoner by a person who was willing to set me free.” He came to stand before her, his hands at his sides as he met her gaze. He gave a small, woeful smile. “And I find that being set free doesn’t suit me.”
Liliah’s breath caught as she considered the implications of his words, refusing to think about the repercussions that they could create.
“So, I suppose the most important question is one only you can answer.” He reached out and brushed his fingertips against her lips as he cupped her cheek tenderly.
“And what is that?” she asked, her tone braver than she felt.
He visibly swallowed, revealing the weight of the question before it was ever voiced. “Do you want me?”
Liliah’s lips widened into an uncontainable grin as she nodded, utterly beyond words. Luc didn’t hesitate a moment before he met her lips in a searing kiss that settled deep within her bones, sealing the bond between them. His lips branded her, his hands mapped every curve, and she allowed herself the luxury of lacing her fingers through his dark mane, the texture delightful, sensual, and erotic all at once. Her breathing came in gasps and she was disappointed when he didn’t initiate more; instead he gentled the kisses and then leaned his forehead against hers, his hands at her shoulders, his breath coming in the same excited gasps as her own.
“I was hoping you’d say that,” he murmured.
Liliah couldn’t resist the invitation. “Actually, I didn’t say anything . . .”
“Minx.” He chuckled and leaned back, tracing his hands from her shoulders to her waist and holding her. “So, it would seem we need to make a plan, since the only person you’ll be marrying is me.”
Liliah arched a brow. “Again with assuming my answers.”
